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Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District (SRP) plans to construct an 88-mile-long extra-high voltage transmission line linking the Pinal West, Santa Rosa, Pinal Central, Abel, and Dinosaur Substations. The project corridor traverses the area from the Maricopa/Pinal County line west of the Ak Chin Indian Community, southeastward and eastward past Casa Grande, Arizona, then roughly northward past Coolidge and Florence, Arizona, ending east of Queen Creek, Arizona, along the western side of the Central Arizona Project Canal (CAP). This document addresses cultural resources identified on private lands between the Pinal West and Dinosaur substations and on private lands at the proposed Pinal Central Substation. Survey of the private lands between the Pinal West and Dinosaur substations was conducted by Henderson and her colleagues (Henderson et. al. 2009). The survey of the Pinal Central Substation was conducted by Clark (2007). The survey of private lands identified 40 archaeological sites within the transmission line corridor (Henderson et. al. 2009). In addition to the archaeological sites, a low-density artifact scatter was identified in the Gila River floodplain, where prehistoric canals may be present as well (Midvale 1965). Because of the potential for buried features and canals in the floodplain, the area outside of the modern Gila River channel will be treated as an archaeological site for the purposes of this project. Sixteen archaeological sites and the Gila River floodplain have been considered eligible for listing in the Arizona and National Registers of Historic Places (Arizona/National Register) or require further investigations to determine eligibility, and may contain subsurface or surface remains that could be impacted by construction of the transmission line. Twenty-one sites within the transmission line corridor are Historic era linear sites—roads, railways, powerlines, pipelines, and canals—that will be spanned by the proposed transmission line and will not be impacted by its construction. The Arizona Corporation Commission in its issuance of the Certificate for Environmental Compatibility (Decision No. 68093, Case No. 126, Docket No. L00000B-04-0126) for the PW- ABL/BRG Project determined that spanning over Arizona/National Register-eligible historical alignments is an acceptable form of avoidance. Three sites have been determined or are considered ineligible for Arizona/National Register listing so construction will not impact significant cultural resources at these locations. No further discussion of the linear or ineligible sites will be presented in this plan. This file includes related correspondence.

As authorized under the Arizona Water Settlements Act of 2004, the San Carlos and Irrigation Drainage District (SCIDD) is undertaking a 10-year rehabilitation project of its irrigation system. SCIDD is the non-Indian irrigation component of the San Carlos Irrigation Project (SCIP), which provides irrigation water to the communities of Florence, Coolidge, and Casa Grande in Pinal County, Arizona. To assist with project planning, Reclamation directed Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS) to conduct a Class I overview of the project area, updating previous Class I reports compiled by Doyel et al. (1995) and Woodson (2000). The Class I update revealed that 172 cultural resource investigations have been conducted within the APE and review area. Although the cultural resource surveys cover approximately 22 percent of the APE and review area, most were conducted more than 10 years ago, or are on the verge. As such, only five percent of the review area was adequately surveyed within the last 10 years. In total, 187 sites have been recorded within the APE and review area, and include a variety of site types and ages and eligible, not eligible, and unknown eligibility determinations to the National Register. The bulk of the sites are prehistoric (n = 121) and include Archaic and Hohokam artifact scatters, habitation sites, resource and procurement sites, and sites with features such as petroglyphs and rock features. At least 52 documented sites are historic, a number of which are associated with the SCIDD and Joint Works system. Other historic sites include homestead sites, structures, roads and highways, railroads and trash scatters. Another 12 sites have been characterized as multicomponent, the bulk of which comprise artifact scatters, some with features, with both prehistoric and historic components. The bulk of the sites had not been evaluated for eligibility (n = 65) or no information is available for them (n = 2). Of the remaining cultural resources that were evaluated, two archaeological districts (Blackwater and Florence) and one structure (the Arizona State Prison Captain of the Guards House) are listed on the State Inventory; 34 sites have been determined eligible for inclusion on the State and/or National Registers; 52 have been recommended eligible; one has been recommended for eligibility testing; and 27 have been recommended as not eligible. Three large prehistoric Hohokam habitation sites along the Gila River are listed on the National Register, including Adamsville Ruin (AZ U:15:1[ASM]), Grewe site (AZ AA:2:2[ASM]) and a site cluster (House Mound) within Casa Grande Ruins National Monument (AZ AA:2:16[ASM]). In addition to the projects and site record checks, historic GLO plat maps and MTP records reveal a number of potentially undocumented historic features and structures in the review area including houses, buildings, canals, ditches, fence lines, railroads, roads, utility lines, and agricultural fields. Modern urban development and expansion of agricultural activity in the area may have obscured or obliterated many of these features. This is the Class I report. A photo of a petroglyph identified during the assessment can be accessed at tDAR ID: 393776.

Greystone Environmental Consultants, Inc., on behalf of Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District (SRP), has developed this Class I Cultural Resources Inventory for the Pinal West to Southeast Valley/Browning 500 kV Project (Project) as part of the Certificate of Environmental Compatibility (CEC) Application. SRP contracted with Greystone Environmental Consultants, Inc. (Greystone) to complete the Class I report. The Project includes the construction of one single circuit 500 kilovolt (kV) transmission line in Pinal County, originating at the recently permitted Pinal West Substation near the Maricopa and Pinal County line southwest of the City of Maricopa and terminating at the proposed Southeast Valley (SEV) 500/230 kV Substation, which also includes the co-location of a proposed SRP RS-22 230/69 kV Substation, to be located in northeastern Pinal County. Generally, this proposed 500 kV line from Pinal West to the Browning Substation, and intermediate proposed substations, are identified as the Project. A Preferred Alignment is being proposed for the entire length of the Project. Preferred Alignment Alternatives include the Santa Cruz Wash, Eleven Mile Comer Road, and Attaway Road.